the goan I network
MAPUSA
The protest against the transfer of the principal and manager of St Thomas Higher Secondary School took a different turn on Saturday with parents and students of the HSS now targeting two senior teachers of the school, besides sticking to their previous demand seeking explanation for the transfers.
For the second day on the trot, no classes were conducted in the school due to the commotion in the premises.
Angry students and parents once again assembled in the institute early morning and refused to allow resumption of normal classes.
They demanded that former Principal Fr Diego Fernandes and Manager Fr Valerian Carvalho be reinstated in their respective positions.
The newly appointed Principal Fr Gerard Sahayraj informed the agitated parents and the students the inability of the chairman of the society to come to the school as he was unwell but volunteered to read a letter sent by him.
The restive group of parents and teachers demanded the presence of Manager Fr Valerian Carvalho and Principal Fr Diego Fernandes and that the letter be read in their presence. Fr Sahayraj then read the letter written by the chairman citing reasons for the transfer of the principal and the manager of the school.
The Principal also said the chairman was expected to arrive in school on Wednesday next week.
Soon the buzz among the students and the parents was about inappropriate behaviour of two teachers in the school.
A couple of girl students came forward and levelled allegations of harassment and inappropriate behaviour against teachers “ Gurudas Mallik and Amarnath Panjikar.
The parents then joined the students in slamming both the teachers. They also demanded that both the teachers be taken out of the staffroom.
In the charged atmosphere, the police were called and all the teachers, including the two targeted teachers, were escorted out of the staff room amidst heavy police cover.
Both the teachers were heckled and booed by the students while they were escorted to safety.
The Goan spoke to a cross-section of the teaching fraternity of the HSS, who claimed that the allegations against the teachers were false and unfounded.
Sources informed that there were two groups among the teachers “ one group aligned to the transferred principal and the manager and the other group apparently led by Gurudas Mallik and Amarnath Panjikar.
A parent, however, blamed the two teachers for instigating the clerk to file complaints against the manager which has led to the present problem. “This power struggle appears to be leading to nowhere but what is surely happening is the institute’s name is getting harmed,” a former student of the HSS said.
Sources said the parents have decided to allow resumption of normal classes on Monday and Tuesday.
The HSS has four streams “ Arts, Commerce, Science and Arts -- and there are around 397 students in the school.
Meanwhile, No complaints have been filed in the police station against the two teachers. Mallik has been with the institute since last 40 years and will be retiring in six months while Panjikar has been working for more than 20 years in the St Thomas HSS.
Teachers maintain attempts being made to malign them as they raised crucial issues against the management
MAPUSA: Stating that there was an attempt to divert attention, St Thomas HSS teacher Amarnath Panjikar said he has a clean image and was ready to go the gallows if the allegations of molestation against him were true.
He also said that there were attempts to take political mileage out of the present unease in the higher secondary. “Since the school is under surveillance, let the management conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility. If it is proved that I have done anything wrong I am ready to face the gallows,” said Panjikar, who is also a spokesman of Congress.
The two targeted teachers Amarnath Panjikar and Gurudas Mallik were addressing a news conference in a city hotel on Saturday evening.
Panjikar said the protest in the school appears to be politically motivated and someone was trying to draw mileage out of it.
He admitted that he had reprimanded the girl student, who made an allegation against him, for coming to school wearing bangles which was against the rules of the school.
“I touched my finger on the girl’s bangles,” he said and further pointed out that the girl has never said that he has molested her.
Senior teacher Gurudas Mallik said there were attempts to malign both of them because they raised crucial issues against the management.
He alleged that the school had charged the students exorbitantly and also opened a fake bank account in Mapusa Urban Co-op Bank.
He further said that Fr Diego Fernandes had no required qualifications to be the principal of the school as he did not have the mandatory five-year experience. He also said that both he and Panjikar were targeted as they were from the majority community.
